Diverge

• #14: StedmaStedman Races to the Sea

  In Episode 14 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast recaps a thrilling fifth edition of the King Price Race to the Sea, discusses the reasons to ride the Glacier Storms River Traverse in 2026, and looks at the Pedal Project’s 2025 Dream Bike raffle prize. At the Race to the Sea, the men’s race was a closely contested affair with Tavis Stedman launching his sprint 200 metres from the line to outbox Tristan Nortje, having whittled down the final selection from four to three and then just the Toyota Specialized and Imbuko ChemChamp pair. Hayley Preen, meanwhile, had used her superior technical skills to out-descend Catherine Colyn 20 kilometres from the Benguela Cove finish line before soloing to her second Race to the Sea title. Looking ahead, the Storms River Traverse is always one of our favourite events. It is not particularly racy, but that adds to its charm. If three days of fun in the Tsitsikamma Forests, with a bit of mountain biking thrown in, sounds like your idea of a good time – check it out.  And finally, it’s that time of year again when the Pedal Project stages its Dream Bike raffle. With all the proceeds going to the charity’s Trail Therapy programme for historically disadvantaged young people from Khayelitsha and Nomzamo. For every two R150 raffle tickets sold, the charity can present a child with an hour of trail therapy. The bike in question is a custom-painted painted, by Hasie and the Robots, Titan Racing Cypher DC Carbon Version 2 with FOX suspension, Shimano XTR drivetrain, South Industries carbon wheels, and Lyne Components cockpit and dropper seatpost. To read more news from South Africa’s endurance sport industry, visit Diverge.info:Stedman and Preen Crowned King Price Race to the Sea ChampionsBook Your Spot for Forest Fun at the 2026 Glacier Storms River Traverse Enter the Pedal Project Dream Bike Raffle  Follow Diverge on social media: @diverge.info on Instagram, Diverge on Facebook, @Diverge_info on X, and Diverge on YouTube. And subscribe on Spotify.

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• #13: 50 Days, Launches, and Gravel Build-Up

  In Episode 13 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast reflects on a busy news week. The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon announced the athletes who will be headlining the 2025 edition in October, Imbuko ChemChamp launched a junior team, while Squirt Cycling Products and Titan Racing launched new products, entries to the 2026 36ONE MTB Challenge opened, and we look ahead to the King Price Race to the Sea this Saturday. Last week, the Cape Town Marathon kick-started the build-up to race day with a press conference focusing on the event’s drive towards becoming Africa’s first Abbott World Marathon Major. Alongside the golden girl of South African distance running, Gerda Steyn, there are several speedy East Africans on the start list, including Ronald Korit, whose personal best is 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 22 seconds. New South African marathon record holder, Elroy Geland, is also set to race in Cape Town on 19 October.  This week, Squirt Cycling Products released its Squirt Performance Hot Wax, Titan Racing introduced its first full suspension E-MTB, the Volt, and Imbuko ChemChamp launched a junior team. Of the three launches, the Imbuko Junior Racing squad garnered the most interest, understandably, as there appears to be a real issue with progression from school racing to the under-23 category. Hopefully, the mentorship of the senior squad and the support of a team set-up will help the young men and women in the Imbuko Junior team make that step up when the time comes. The 36ONE MTB Challenge opened entries for its 2026 edition this week, too, with the promise of R36 100 for breaking the course records back on the line. In 2025, Dan Loubser shattered the men’s record by nearly 40 minutes, while Yolande de Villiers took 11 off her record but was unaware that she was close to breaking the 15-hour mark. It will require perfect conditions to challenge Loubser’s mark of 12 hours, 34 minutes, and 57 seconds. Beating De Villiers’ time of 15 hours and 23 seconds will surely see the first woman to go under 15 hours on the 361-kilometre-long circumnavigation of the Klein Karoo basin. The show concludes, looking ahead to the Race to the Sea, which takes place on Saturday, 6 September. In the absence of Matt Beers, the race is wide open with Tristan Nortje, Marc Pritzen, Arno du Toit, and Dan Loubser arguably the favourites from a stacked men’s field. The women’s race sees 2022 winner and current SA and African gravel champion Hayley Preen up against the defending Race to the Sea title holder, Danielle du Toit, Sarah Hill, and Catherine Colyn.  To read more about the news covered in this episode, visit Diverge.info:The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon Celebrates 50 Days to Race Day with Elite Athlete AnnouncementsIntroducing Performance Chain Lubrication with Squirt Performance Hot WaxTitan Racing Announces the Volt, A Dual-Suspension Alloy E-MTB Imbuko Pro Cycling Launches Junior Team to Develop Next Generation of MTB TalentChallenge Yourself and The 36ONE Course Records in 2026Will Team Tactics or Individual Brilliance Win Out at the King Price Race to the Sea? Follow Diverge on social media: @diverge.info on Instagram, Diverge on Facebook, @Diverge_info on X, and Diverge on YouTube. And subscribe on Spotify.

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• #12: Back At It After the Winter Lull

  In Episode 12 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast is back after an extended winter break. The mountain biking action has continued through the depths of winter, with the Ford Trailseeker series. On the 1st of August, the racing truly resumed in earnest, though with the Glacier Storms River Traverse, followed by the Trans Baviaans, and the SPAR Swiss Epic over the subsequent 17 days. In this episode, we’ll look back at August’s racing thus far and feature interviews from the 2025 Trans Baviaans winners. In June, Marco Joubert punctured at the Bosveld leg of the Trailseeker series, losing out on contesting for victory and thereby falling out of contention for a Million Rand performance bonus. With his perfect streak over, Imbuko ChemChamp skipped the Van Gaalen race in July, where Marc Pritzen emerged victorious. The final event of the 2025 series takes place in Wellington on the 13th of September and should see a stacked field of South African talent on the start line. Also in July, Klimatiza Orbea won their first Epic Series event at the Andorra Epic, where Marc Stutzmann and Sebastian Gesche claimed victory over Singer KTM’s Simon Stiebjahn and Martin Frey. In the UCI Women’s race, Buff Megamo dominated, winning three of the four stages en route to victory. More recently, the Storms River Traverse mixed socialriding and competitive racing for three days in the Tsitsikamma forests. As ever, there was mud to be avoided and water points that lured riders into remaining for far too long. Travis Rademan-Ludeke and Jordan Boshoff were the speediest of the racers, winning the men’s team event, while Sarah Hill and Steph Wohlters tested their Cape Pioneer partnership in Storms River.  The following weekend, the Trans Baviaans saw Hill on thestart line again, returning to the Baviaanskloof for the first time since 2019. She was able to win the 2025 title alongside Stacey Paul and Ricci-Lee Brookstone, but they could not challenge Hill’s own course record, which she set with Theresa Ralph in 2018. Insect Science did, however, better their own record, which Arno du Toit and Keagan Bontekoning had set in 2024. Racing aboard gravel bikes, with 2.3-inch mountain bike tyres, they took 3:44 off the previous best. A busy three weeks of non-stop action wrapped up in Davoson Sunday, 17 August, when the twelfth Swiss Epic reached its conclusion. For Southern African fans, the success of Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda was the highlight of the race. The Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM team won four of the five stages and the overall title. In the men’s race, Swiss XCM Champion Casey South won his first Swiss Epic title and helped Fabian Rabensteiner join Lukas Flückiger on three victories after two stage wins and a mature management of the racing situation.To read more about the news covered in this episode by Diverge.info:Sondela Shakes Up the Series as Ford Trailseeker Enters Final StretchPritzen and Jacobs Top the Podium at Ford Trailseeker Van GaalenBuff Megamo and Klimatiza Orbea Wrap Up the 2025 Andorra Epic TitlesAnniversaries Aplenty at the Glacier Storms River TraverseInsect Science Better Their Own Trans Baviaans Field Course RecordCelebrations on the Final Stage of the SPAR Swiss Epic Follow Diverge on social media: @diverge.info on Instagram, Diverge on Facebook, @Diverge_info on X, and Diverge on YouTube. And subscribe on Spotify.

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• #11: Becking’s Back to his Best

  In this week’s episode of the Diverge Podcast we look back at the 4Islands Epic on the Kvarner Islands, in the Adriatic off Croatia. The race was won by the Buff Megamo and Cannondale ISB Sport teams, both of whom notched up a perfect five-from-five stage victories. Then, we look ahead at the Tankwa Trail, a three-day trail run hosted by Dryland Event Management in the Koue Bokkeveld near Op-Die-Berg. Last week, we covered the first three stages of 4IslandsEpic and discussed how Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas’s lead of 1 minute and 29 seconds, in the women’s race, over Bianca Haw and Vera Looser appeared in danger. That proved to be completely false, though Kortekaas had struggled on Stage 2, she found her legs in emphatic fashion, on Stages 3 and 4 to secure the overall victory by a dominant margin. The Safari Essence Efficient Insure pair had to settle for second with Cannondale ISB Sport 2 in third. Buff Megamo continued their perfect performance from thePrologue through Stage 2 with two more wins over the weekend to take the title ahead of Nicholas Pettinà and Ramon Vantaggiato, of KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes 2. HEXATRI’s Pierre Billaud andThéo Dupras were third. But the excitement as all in Hans Becking and Wout Alleman’s battle with the two Italian, KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes, teams.  This coming weekend, trail runners will gather at Kaleo, in the Bokveld, for the Tankwa Trail. The sister event of the Tankwa Trek, it boasts two 21 kilometre stages on Saturday and Sunday after an optional 5 kilometre evening fun-run on Friday. The event is always a fun one with fast and runnable trails forming the majority of the mileage. To read more about 4Islands Epic and all the othermountain biking news covered by Diverge, visit Diverge.info:4Islands Epic: Cannondale ISB Sport Win a Windy Prologue4Islands Epic: Becking and Alleman complete the Lošinj Double 4Islands Epic: A Perfect 3 from 3, Thus Far, for Buff Megamo and Cannondale ISB Sport4Islands Epic: Presents are for Christmas Say Buff Megamo 4Islands Epic: Cannondale ISB Sport and Buff Megamo Secure the 2025 TitlesTankwa Trek: Fuelling Your Fire to Conquer the Merino Monster Follow Diverge on social media: @diverge.info on Instagram, Diverge on Facebook, @Diverge_info on X, and Diverge on YouTube. And subscribe on Spotify.

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• #10: Moir Cracks the World Series Code

  In Episode 10 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast looks back at Luke Moir’s breakthrough performance at the UCI MTB World Series. During the second race in Araxá, Brazil, the 22-year-old notched up his first top 5 placing and heralded his arrival as a force to be reckoned with on the biggest stage. Candice Lill had a rare off day, finishing 17th, while Tyler Jacobs showed remarkable consistency with an 11th and a 6th place finish in the XCC and XCO. Alongside the cross-country and cross-country eliminator coverage, we also reflected on the first three days of the 4Islands Epic racing in Croatia. The UCI MTB World Series now takes a hiatus from XCC andXCO racing for nearly 6 weeks before reconvening in Nové Město na Moravě on the 23rd to the 25th of May. The Czech Republic will see the return of World Champion Alan Hatherly to mountain bike racing, after an early season on the road. Before switching to wider tyres, the South African time trial champion will start at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, 20 April, and the Tour de Romandie from 29 April to 4 May. Off-road stage racing has already been taking place this week, too. The 10th edition of 4Islands Epic got underway on Tuesday, 15 April. Starting with a Prologue time trial on the island of Lošinj, after the initial Prologue on Unije had to be replanned due to adverse weather. Stayed on Lošinj for Stage 1 before travelling to Cres for Stage 2. Going into the weekend, on Krk, Buff Megamo and Cannondale ISB Sport lead the UCI Men’s and Women’s categories, respectively. Hans Becking and Wout Alleman hold a 6 minute and 37 second advantage over Nicholas Pettinà and Ramon Vantaggiato, of KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes 2. HEXATRI are 3rd, a further 1 minute and 49 seconds back. Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas’s lead is 1 minute and 29 seconds in the women’s race over Bianca Haw and Vera Looser of Safari Essence Efficient Insure. Cannondale ISB Sport 2 are 3rd, 5 minutes behind their teammates.To read more about 4Islands Epic and all the other mountain biking news covered by Diverge, visit Diverge.info:5th in Brazil for South African Privateer Luke Moir 4Islands Epic: A 5-Day Celebration to Commemorate a Decade of Conquering the Rocks4Islands Epic: Cannondale ISB Sport Win a Windy Prologue4Islands Epic: Becking and Alleman complete the Lošinj Double 4Islands Epic: A Perfect 3 from 3, Thus Far, for Buff Megamo and Cannondale ISB Sport Follow Diverge on social media: @diverge.info on Instagram, Diverge on Facebook, @Diverge_info on X, and Diverge on YouTube. And subscribe on Spotify.

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